1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hinge, particularly for furniture doors, with a hinge arm which can be directly fixed to a part of the piece of furniture or be indirectly fixed by means of a mounting plate, the hinge arm being connected by means of a hinge axle with a casing which can, for example, be inserted into a door, whereby a snap device is mounted on the hinge.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hinges of the above-mentioned kind have been frequently used in furniture production and on a particularly large scale in the production of kitchen furniture. It is the advantage of such hinges that they keep the door in position when the door is closed.
It is essential that the closing pressure be exerted only when the door is in a closed or almost closed position, since an automatic and uncontrollable closing of the open door is not desired in most cases. Furthermore, the parts of the snap device and the hinge should not be under unnecessary strain which could result in an early wear of the parts involved.
It is of further advantage if such hinges allow an adjustment of the hinge arm and of the door after the mounting of the hinge. It must be pointed out that with conventional assembly methods for furniture parts the hinge arm, which is usually rigidly connected by a hinge axle with the casing to be inserted into the door, is held by means of the casing on the door when the door is mounted on the side-wall of the piece of furniture. Before assembling the body and the door of the piece of furniture, and also in many cases before assembling the body itself, the so-called mounting plate for the hinge arm is mounted on the side-wall of the body. Only when the piece of furniture is finally assembled is the hinge arm together with the door suspended and fixed on the mounting plate. Because of the adjustability of the hinge arm it is possible to correct any assembly inaccuracies which may be caused when drilling holes for the fastening dowels of the mounting plate.
Various parts of the snap device can be displaced in the course of this adjustment and it is important that this does not affect the snap mechanism.